The Civil War April 1861 April 1865
I. Fort Sumter A. In Lincoln s first inaugural address he stated that he intended to hold, occupy and possess federal property. The day after his inauguration he received word from Major Robert Anderson, the commanding officer of Fort Sumter, stating that the Fort would have to evacuate if supplies were not received within a few weeks. B. April 4, 1861, Lincoln announced that he was sending relief to Fort Sumter in South Carolina and Fort Pickens in Florida. C. Confederate leaders decided to attack Fort Sumter before the supply ship arrived and at 4:30am on April 12, 1861, the Confederates fired the first shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter.
I. Fort Sumter D. After 34 hours, being out manned and outgunned, Major Robert Anderson surrendered to the Confederates under the command of General Pierre Gustave T. Beauregard. 1. Anderson was from the slave state of Kentucky, but was determined to carry out his duties. 2. P.G.T. Beauregard led the firing on Fort Sumter and had been an artillery student under Anderson at West Point.
I. Fort Sumter E. After receiving word of Fort Sumter s surrender, Lincoln called for 75,000 militia men for 90 days to put down the insurrection in the South. 1. South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas had seceded from the Union before the firing on Fort Sumter. 2. After Lincoln s demand for militiamen, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas seceded. 3. Border States of Maryland, Delaware, Missouri, Kentucky, and what would become West Virginia in 1863 remained in the union.
II. Strengths and Weaknesses in the North and South A. North 1. Population 22 million 2. Had most of mineral deposits, iron, coal, copper, and other precious metals. 3. 86% of nation s manufacturing plants were in the North. 4. 2.5 times the railroad mileage was in the North. 5. Almost every ship (90) in the navy stayed in the Union. 6. The Civil War would be an offensive war for the North, which was a disadvantage.
II. Strengths and Weaknesses in the North and South B. South 1. Population 9.5 million, 3.5 of which were slaves. 2. South had better generals, 1/3 of the career officers in the U.S. Army resigned to join the Confederacy most were trained at West Point. 3. The Civil War would be a defensive war for the South, which is an advantage.
III. Strategies of the North and South A. North 1. Reunite the country. 2. Public opinion of the northern people was that only destruction of southern armies would force Confederate surrender. 3. General Winfield Scott developed the Anaconda Plan to blockade the South s coast and dispatch an invasion flotilla down the Mississippi to envelop the southern states and bring the South to terms with less bloodshed. But this plan would take time and the public wanted immediate action. 4. Keep the border states in the Union.
III. Strategies of the North and South B. South 1. Remain independent. 2. Avoid large scale battles and hope the North would tire of the War and accept southern independence. 3. Use cotton to force foreign support of Britain and France, but in 1861 Europe had a stockpile of cotton. 4. Public opinion held that the South needed military victories to impress Europe and ruin northern morale. 5. Move the Capitol of the Confederacy from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia.
IV. The Armies of the North and South A. Quality of Militias 1. The North was unprepared for war militias were untrained and most were city folk unfamiliar with riding horses and shooting guns. 2. The South began organizing militias several months before Fort Sumter. Most Southerners were from the country and were used to riding horses and handling guns much more adeptly. 3. At the beginning of the war, it was hard to tell enemy from friend as there was no standard uniform. Later, textile mills in both the North and the South made uniforms blue in the North and gray in the South.
IV. The Armies of the North and South 4. The biggest enemy of both armies was disease and infection. a. 140,000 Union soldiers killed in action or died of wounds while more than 220,000 died of disease and other causes like infections. b. Few doctors knew that cleanliness prevented infection. c. Antiseptics, germ-killing substance, were unknown. d. Anesthetics or pain killers were rare.
IV. The Armies of the North and South B. The involvement of women in the war. 1. Dorothea Dix was appointed superintendent of female nurses by the Union government in June 1861. 2. Clara Barton raised funds and produced bandages and clothing for the Union soldiers. After the war she founded the Red Cross. 3. Elizabeth Blackwell, the nation s first women doctor, helped organize the Sanitary Commission which inspected and advised camps and hospitals of proper care for the soldiers.
IV. The Armies of the North and South 4. Wives often accompany their husbands to cook and take care of them. 5. 600 Union soldiers were women who passed as men until illness or death revealed their true identity.
V. Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg A. General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate army had 4 reasons for moving north into Maryland. 1. A victory in their territory would force peace negotiations. 2. Give Virginia a rest during harvest. 3. Fill Confederate stomachs with northern food. 4. A successful invasion would bring diplomatic recognition for the South. B. After fighting all day, September 17, 1862, Lee withdrew to Virginia and McClellan DID NOT follow missing a chance.
V. Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg C. Aftermath The battle was basically a draw with no clear victor. It was a strategic defeat for Lee in that his plans for ending the war with a victory in the North failed. But McClellan failed also in not snatching up one of the several chances to defeat the Confederate army. It was a political victory for the North in that by forcing Lee to withdraw, it caused foreign recognition of the Confederacy to be delayed.
VI. The Emancipation Proclamation A. After Antietam Lincoln announced his intention to free all slaves in the rebelling states as of January 1, 1863. B. The Emancipation Proclamation also said Freedmen could serve in the armed services.
VII. Battle of Gettysburg A. North Lincoln replaced Hooker with George Gordon Meade. B. South During May, the confederate Cabinet and leading generals held several conferences to figure out a strategy. Lee insisted that the war in the east was the most important and he was convinced of an invasion of the North as it would: 1. Relieve threat to Richmond. 2. Enable the army to supply itself from rich Pennsylvania country.
VII. Battle of Gettysburg 3. Reduce pressure of Confederate armies in West by forcing Union armies to draw from West to reinforce the East. 4. Obtain European recognition. 5. Strengthen the Peace Democrats in the North by demonstrating the unbeatable power of the South. 6. Perhaps accomplish the capture of Washington or other northern cities. C. The Battle Confederates went to town to look for shoes, ran into Union cavalry.battle lasted 3 days ending in Pickett s charge. Lee retreated to Virginia.
VII. Battle of Gettysburg D. Aftermath Turning point of the war. Meade failed to go after Lee could have ended the war two years earlier.
VIII. Battle of Vicksburg A. The generals John C. Pemberton for the South and Grant for the North. B. The aftermath Grant s siege ended in Vicksburg. The surrender was on July 4, 1863. Lincoln found the General he was looking for in Grant.
IX. The taking of Atlanta and the march to the sea. A. The generals Joe E. Johnston for the South and William T. Sherman for the North. B. The Pursuit May July 1864, fought each other from Tennessee to Atlanta. Then Sherman practiced total war from Atlanta to sea.
X. From Petersburg to Appomattox A. The generals Lee for the South and Grant for the North. B. Grant s attempt to capture Petersburg planned assault for June 18 failed. Then laid siege to Petersburg. C. The Battle of the Crater Union attempted to blow up Confederates but failed after explosion to defeat Confederates. D. The Pursuit continues Lee tried to go South to join Johnston in North Carolina. Grant, with Sheridan s help, stops him, cutting him off at Appomattox.
XI. Appomattox The terms of surrender were worked out at the home of Wilmer McLean in Appomattox. He moved there from Manassas to get away from the War. His old house in Manassas was used as Confederate Headquarters in the first battle of Bull Run. Grant proposed generous terms that paroled Lee s whole army and allowed them to take their horses or mules home to put in a crop.